Chelsea-Manchester City was going to be played in March but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed that to June. After 30 years of waiting, Liverpool fans had to wait another three months to enjoy their long awaited Premier League title. Manchester City lost 2-1 to Chelsea and that ended the waiting for Liverpool as they clinched the 2019-20 Premier League.
Manchester City seemed to have the early portion of the game in control but a mistake in the back put the ball on Christian Pulisic’s foot. The American’s individual breakaway sent him in on goal and his cool finish put Chelsea up 1-0.
goals in games for @cpulisic_10!@ChelseaFC grab the lead. pic.twitter.com/PQNjmAjRZG — NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 25, 2020
With an FA Cup game against Newcastle ahead on the weekend, Man City could’ve thrown in the towel but that wasn’t the case. Kevin De Bruyne launched a screamer of a free kick to equalize and give City a chance to win.
But as time wore on, Chelsea took more and more control and were threatening at the goal. Pulisic was so close to a second goal but a sliding goal line clearance prevented that.
And then the straw that broke the camel’s back. Somehow, a Chelsea attack sequence stayed out of the net but VAR revealed a handball by Fernandinho. A penalty was called, Fernandino was sent off, Willian scored the penalty, and Liverpool just had to count down the minutes to their 19th top flight English title and their first since 1990.
Along with Manchester United, Liverpool is one of the most decorated teams in English soccer. Liverpool had won trophy after trophy but hadn’t won a top flight title in 30 years. And because the Premier League formed a couple years after Liverpool won that title, they had never won the Premier League. That was, until today.
For many reasons, this season has been bizarre. Liverpool holds a distinction that likely will never be duplicated. Or at least we hope will never be duplicated. Liverpool has the record for clinching the Premier League in the earliest number of games (31) but because of the pandemic, clinched the title on the latest date (June 25) than any other champion.
Even though Liverpool have clinched the Premier League, there are still seven more games. At 28-2-1 and at 86 points, Liverpool can break records for most wins (32), most points (100), and largest margin of victory (19), among numerous other records. It might’ve been 30 years of waiting but Liverpool stored up so much hurt and heartbreak over the past 30 years to put out a season like this and it was well deserved.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1276262474870861826?s=20
[Photo @LFC]